Richard Ellinger (born September 27, 1970), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Meatball, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

who is signed to Micro Championship Wrestling.

Early life

Ellinger was born in River Grove,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States. His father, Richard Ellinger (1938-2020), was of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

descent, and his mother, Frances Schmidt (1942–2009), was of German-

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He has an elder sister, Valerie Caso (née Ellinger; born 1966), and two elder step-brothers, Thomas and Bill Morton, from his mother's second marriage to Earl Morton. Ellinger's mother and sister worked in the administrative side of a food chain, while his father worked in a

lumber yard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services suc ...

. Both his father and sister are two inches shorter than he is. Ellinger attended River Grove Rhodes Elementary School until 1985 and

East Leyden High School East Leyden High School is a secondary school located in Franklin Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) which educates grades 9-12. Together with West Leyden High School in Northlake, Illinois, they serve the suburban communities in Franklin ...

until 1989. After he left school, he traveled through the United States, Europe and Japan, which led to him taking a job as a cargo handler for a local airline from 1990 until 2009.

Professional wrestling career

Ellinger is 4 feet 6 inches tall, billed at weighing 292 lbs and adopts a brawler wrestling style. In 2001, Ellinger received basic wrestling training from Nate Webb, made his ring debut and thereafter wrestled part-time on federations including

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA),

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

(TNA), Independent Wrestling Revolution (IWR) and

World Wrestling All-Stars World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) was a professional wrestling promotion founded by Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus in 2001. The promotion was operated by McManus' International Touring Company. WWA was one of several promotions to come ...

(WWA). Matches In August 2009, he joined Micro Championship Wrestling (MCW) and subsequently received training from

Pat Tanaka Patrick Tanaka (born August 5, 1963) is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express. He is the so ...

. In May 2013, Ellinger returned full-time to his previous job as a cargo handler in between doing wrestling shows for MCW.

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

* Micro Championship Wrestling **MCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) Meatball

Early life

Professional wrestling career

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links